


Memento Mori

by ereshai



Series: Full Moon Ficlets [8]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-09
Updated: 2013-03-09
Packaged: 2017-12-04 19:37:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/714320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ereshai/pseuds/ereshai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles' future isn't what he thought it would be.</p>
<p>Prompt #8 - memories</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memento Mori

**Author's Note:**

> Memento mori - remember you will die.

Stiles runs his fingers over the scar on his neck. It’s fading, finally, but he still thinks he notices people staring at it. He forces his hand away.

“Dude, cliff diving! Tonight! Jay’s bringing beer.” Bill, his roommate, shoulder bumps him. “You in?”

“Nah, I've got plans. Thanks, though.”

“Next time, then.” As he watches Bill run around the room collecting his swim gear, Stiles wonders if there will be a next time. He’s turned down more invitations than he’s accepted. No to drag-racing, no to playing chicken with a fucking train, no to all sorts of stupid juvenile bullshit that was going to get someone killed.

**

He’s fifteen and he’s in the woods with his best friend, looking for half a dead body (Which half? Didn't think of that.) They’re stumbling in the dark, but nothing could possibly happen to either of them. (What if the killer is still around? Didn't think of that, either.)

That’s the first time he learns he’s wrong. He sometimes (always) wishes the lesson would have stuck sooner.

**

He’s lying in his bed, surfing the ‘net on his laptop. There’s a clink at his window that he ignores. Then another. And another. He goes to the window and opens it. He doesn't lean out too far; he may only be on the second floor, but that’s high enough.

“The answer is still no,” he tells the dark shape hidden in the shadows of the trees. He closes the window again, and checks the lock on the door. It won’t do any good, it won’t _stop_ anything, but it still makes him feel better.

**

He’s trying to free Erica and Boyd, but there’s no way he’s going to succeed. He tries to bluff his way out of trouble ( _use your words, Stiles_ ), but he’s being hit again and again and again. He’s the message and the messenger, and he has no say in being either.

Here’s that same lesson, still trying to work its way into his brain.

**

He’s still standing by his door when he hears the yelling in his hallway. He puts his hand on the knob. It’s probably nothing, just some guys rough-housing. It happens all the time.

“Help! Help me!” The terrified voice is right outside his door. He takes a step back. “Get away from me! Help!”

He retreats to his bed, pulls out his cell phone and dials 911. He pauses before he hits the final button. The pleading voice and raucous laughter fade down the hallway while he whispers to the 911 operator. He thinks he might have recognized that voice, Devin from down the hall. He thinks he might have recognized his roommate’s laughter, too. But he can’t say for sure. He lets the phone drop to his chest. He’s done all he can do (all he will do). He runs his fingers over the scar on his neck, and does not think about the scars on the rest of his body.

**

The Alpha pack is terror wrapped in a nightmare. Stiles does what he can to help Scott, to help Derek. But people die. People get hurt, Stiles gets hurt, and healing is a long process that is never finished.

Lesson learned.


End file.
